February 2025 breaking news
We are preparing a Request for Tender (RfT) for a 30 unit cohousing development in North Watson
Watson Project draft Design
scroll down for Vision and Values
Cohousing Canberra with the help of our architects, AMC, have a 30 unit cohousing development for the site that we hope to purchase from the ACT government in 2024.
All units will have northern light, 7* minimum EER rating and silver level accessibility. The units will look over the common house which will have shared facilities like large kitchen and dinning room, spare rooms for anything we want like game playing, yoga or visitor accommodation. There will be space or a communal garden and orchard.
Our site is part of Section 76, North Watson. It has a rapid bus stop and a shared path (bike and pedestrian) to Watson, Dickson and Civic.
Next to the block the government is building a new park. You can see the picture below. It will really be a green, people friendly neighborhood.
We are aiming to build a community that will be a lot more sustainable than most. There will be a common house and common garden so the community will interact as part of our life there. The extensive common spaces will mean that private units can be more modest because everyone will have space to share.
Smaller units mean less environmental impact. As well we plan to have extensive PVs on the rooves and 7* minimum EER. We will have EV chargers and bike rakes tplus we are next to a shared path into Civic and a rapid bus stop so our transport can be more sustainable.
We have big plans and a lot of space for our shared spaces. The common house is expected to be more than 350 sq metres and the communal open space is nearly 1,000 sqm or a lot bigger than the average older house block. The picture is the garden at Murundaka, a cohousing development in Melbourne.
The Watson site is one of the results of the ACT government's Demonstration Housing Project. This project aims to demonstrate on the ground different forms of housing which could lead to a more sustainable future for Canberra. Cohousing Canberra applied to join the project and we were selected as one of the projects without a site in 2018.
​
In 2021, the territory plan was altered to allow cohousing on part of section 76. We have been told that we will be able to purchase it, at market price, via a Request for Tender (RFT). This will demonstrate to the government how we will meet there requirements, and how we can fund the project. We anticipate receiving the RFT in 2024.
Vision and Values
Draft for Watson Cohousing Project
(to be reviewed and re-shaped by future Watson residents)
​
​
​
Our values
-
We tread lightly on the earth
-
We take care to ensure our shared home is warm,
safe, welcoming and beautiful, and -
We consider the impact our choices have on the environment and future generations
​
We look after each other
-
We are a supportive, intergenerational community
-
We celebrate and build memories together
-
We communicate with respect and compassion, and
-
We are an active part of our Watson neighbourhood
​
We value sharing and working together
-
We make decisions together and run our affairs in
a safe, viable, ethical way -
We look for creative solutions, and
-
We share resources and knowledge
​
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY
Our cohousing community is built on Ngunnawal and Ngambri land. We pay our respects to the traditional owners, their elders past and present. We have much to learn from the Indigenous world view.
​
​